Tag Archives: Online Shopping Trends in 2018

The growth of the ecommerce industry around the globe is tremendous. From kids to senior citizen people, everyone loves ecommerce and the convenience it offers when it compared to physical shopping stores. According to eMarketer, by 2020, the retail sales are going to hit $27 trillion.

As these figures indeed suggest that physical stores can longer compete without being present on their consumers’ preferred sources and the offline retailers certainly have to completely integrate digital commerce to survive in this heavily competed digital world.

Ecommerce is stepping into an age where machine learning and artificial intelligence are undoubtedly outweighing everything else in the industry.

Today, in this article, we will see the ecommerce trends that are breaking the ground in 2018 or later in the future.

1. Quicker delivery and improved shipping logistics

Looking beyond the peculiarities of particular ecommerce platforms, one of the negligible authentic differentiators in the ecommerce industry is shipping and delivery logistics.

Of course, when it comes to shipping and delivery logistics, Amazon outsmarts everyone in every sense. But the thing is no one knows specific figures. However, the latest infographic that was published on Amazon itself by the ecommerce giant states which Amazon delivered nearly 5 billion products across the globe through its popular one or two-hour shipping in the year 2017.

Shortly, we can expect Amazon and other popular ecommerce platforms to improve their logistics game further. With nearly 10, 000 Amazon Prime members who are presently living in cities that Amazon offers two-hour delivery service, Amazon is now planning to expand their faster services even more shortly.

2. Better product images and videos

Original photos stay as a constant challenge. However, ecommerce platforms have to stay away from poor stock images which instantly bring down your brand. Nevertheless, one of the many ways to add high-quality content to your ecommerce platform is to provide 360-degree pictures of products that are worn by models. Also, you can add an animated GIF that can show the product features compellingly and engagingly.

3. Artificial Intelligence and machine learning

We are already seeing AI is stepping into the mainstream and it is not so far for AI to be operationalized and automated. Various ecommerce platforms’ products are already being managed by machine learning with which we are now able to teach machines to deliver a better user experience.

After revising abandoned cart emails, the ecommerce platforms seriously have seen a significant increase in the conversion, and they also have made the emails more personal and customized. With this, very soon shopping carts will utilize machine learning to make better conversion rates.

Whether to window shop or buy things, smartphones have become the first convenient medium for people. As a result, more than 70 percent online shoppers prefer using their smartphone for locating nearby stores, comparing prices, etc.

Also, various digital wallet players Amazon, Apple, etc. are offering one-click payment convenience to avoid cart abandonment. Personalization and omnichannel experiences for m-commerce customers are on the razzmatazz where retailers can integrate tools and responsive design to their portals.

Mobile app development companies are incorporating purchasing experiences online and offline to improve the online shopping experience for customers. In the future, we can expect more automation tools such as cart re-engagement engines, particular platforms to gather feedback and reviews of the products.

5. Augmented reality is very much closer to the mainstream

Lately, Augmented Reality is driving transformation and innovation to greater heights. With many retailers refining their AR offerings, including Google ARCore and Apple ARKit, this year or maybe shortly, we will see Augmented Reality tech taking a huge stride forward towards the real mainstream adoption, of course, with ecommerce platforms in the front. Various companies like IKEA are indeed going big on Augmented Reality with Ikea Place which lets customers see how products of IKEA would look in customers’ homes.

6. Voice search

Voice search is all set to experience the explosive growth due to the increase conversions of Google Assistant and Alexa. Along with that, Walmart and Google made a partnership that allows customers shop through Google’s voice assistant. According to Google, nearly 20 percent of the mobile searches are voice-based. For obvious reasons, for the last few years, we have witnessed a considerable increase in the adoption of voice-based devices like Google Home and Amazon Echo.

However, when companies consider the estimated increase in the mobile commerce, optimizing the online store for a voice search will be a must in the coming years. So ensure you take the time to apprehend your consumer persona, identify how they engage and communicate on your social media platforms, and mirror their language.

7. Mobile Checkout

Right from purchasing products to renewing services, everything is being on the move currently and thanks to all payment options. The development of the simplified payment technology on a smartphone which includes fingerprint recognition will enhance the number of the transaction completed on a smartphone.

One of the most exceptional examples for this is Amazon Go. This physical store lets the customers shop whatever they want and walk out of the store. All the d products will be automatically scanned and charged to their Amazon account.

Summary

For ecommerce platforms, there is so much more to look forward than meets the eye. All the trends above point to making online shopping much more comfortable and convenient than just a time-saving process. From on-brand animations to pop-up events, your every interaction with your customers will grow as you learn more and more about their expectations and how efficiently you can deliver them.